Talented alumni games designers from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) are proving ‘the force’ is with them, having played major roles in the release of the high profile title: ‘LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens’.

The title has been produced by North West-based Traveller’s Tales Ltd. and their sister company TT-Fusion where in the last few years over 40 Central Lancashire graduates studying on the BA (Hons) Games Design have been employed.

On the LEGO title, 14 of the University’s former students are credited having played key roles in the game’s production.

Will Hunter, who is credited for the game’s quality control, explained what it was like to be involved in the making of the high profile title: “It was amazing to work on a game relating to one of my favourite film series,” he said.  “Then, walking into a shop and watching people pick up and buy a game on which I’d worked so hard gave me great satisfaction. Studying games design at Central Lancashire increased my enthusiasm for the industry and taught me the crucial skills necessary to build a career. Working on such a cool game has been a great experience.”

The roll call of Central Lancashire games design alumni includes: Steven Thornton, Edward Marsland and Chris Wyatt, credited for their roles as Level Directors; Richard Greer as Assistant Game Director; David Woodman as Lead Artist; Alexandra Jaeschke as Environment Artist and Chris Flanders as Senior Game Scripter. Robert Duckworth, Daniel Maddox and Jamie Power were all credited as Junior Level Construction Designers along with Phil Sloan as UI Artist. Vytautas Januškevičius, Will Hunter and Theo Clarke are also credited for the game’s quality control.

Current postgraduate student Theo Clarke, also credited for quality control, said he was proud to be part of an exciting project that would give him an insight to what life could be like after University. “Working as a QA Tester on this title was an incredible opportunity to contribute to one of my favourite franchises and gain valuable experience in the games industry,” he explained.

“The University’s BA (Hons) Games Design programme fuelled my passion for games and gave me an in-depth understanding of how games are made and produced. The skills I gained at Central Lancashire have proved to be invaluable. I’m now studying on the MA Games Design programme and in the future I’m excited at the prospect of translating theory into practice out in the real world of computer games design.”

http://www.uclan.ac.uk/about_us/case_studies/alumni-games-designers-show-they-have-the-force.php

Ellis McKeown | May 2017